I was seventeen years old, a senior in high school, and was slouching into my desk when an angry student almost twice my size entered the room. In a storm of spit and fire, he burst toward where I was sitting, grabbed me by my neck and began rearranging my facial features with his fist.

Someone had written a derogatory remark about him on the inside of his notebook and signed my name to it. Obviously, there was more going on in the Big Guy's life than anyone realized. Whatever other frustrations had been accumulating in his heart, his immediate goal was to release his fury on the latest offender, whom he considered to be me.

I should also mention that at the time I was five foot nine and weighed about 135 pounds. I was not a confrontational guy and had, in fact, developed several clever ways of avoiding conflict while still appearing relatively cool among my friends. However, it does not matter what one's philosophy is concerning physical violence when one is actually in a fight, especially with an angry giant. Big Guy was looking for blood. I quickly realized that if this attack was going to end, it would be because I put my whole heart into fighting back.

Once I accepted that I had no choice but to fight, something amazing happened inside me. Instead of my fear getting worse, it actually left. The energy that had been expended through fear was suddenly mobilized for my defense. At that moment, unexpectedly, I discovered another dimension of my soul: the war mode.

Frankly, I did not even know I had a war mode, but when Big Guy reached down to pick me up for "round two," my fight instincts clicked into action. It had been easy for him to throw me around when I was not resisting, but now I sprang upward with a punch that landed squarely on his nose. He fell back a step. I hit him again two or three times and then jumped on him while he was off balance, knocking him to the floor. I admit it is possible, on reflection, that he stumbled over a chair and my punch had nothing to do with his fall, but it did not matter. When his back hit the floor, there was a 135-pound Sicilian on top of him.

By now, students were pulling me off of him. Blood was pouring from his nose, and his friends were calling me a bully. When the teacher entered the room, it plainly looked as though I was the aggressor and Big Guy the victim, cowering beneath my relentless assault.

I nearly failed to graduate because of the incident, but I did not care. Something inside me had changed. I had found the war mode. I still did not look for a fight, but I was not afraid of one either.

Passivity is Not Peace

Why am I telling you this story? First of all, it is not because I think physical violence is the answer to our problems. Unless we are in the military or law enforcement, physical violence is not God's answer to what troubles us. I related this incident to emphasize that there is a "war mode" that exists in each one of us. You may be facing a foe bigger than you – maybe it's sin or demonic attacks, or perhaps your kids are drifting away from God, or your community or church is declining spiritually – but a point comes when living under oppression is no longer acceptable to you! It is at the moment that you say "enough!" that God begins to activate the war mode inside of you.

This mode of thinking is not a virtue in itself. Yet, just as we surrender our hearts, minds and bodies to God, so we can surrender this aspect of the soul, and find God's grace anointing us to fight the fight of faith.

The fact is, we are at war on a global scale. We are fighting the influence of immoral and perverse leaders in our culture; and on an international level, facing Islamic terrorism and manipulation. Who will protect the future for our children? You see, it is up to us to defend our communities, to reinforce moral values and bring redemptive change to our world.

Again, we are not talking about physical or carnal warfare – Paul said the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but they are mighty! (See 2 Corinthians 10:4.) We need to take up the "sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God" (Ephesians 6:17). Fighting for righteousness is not an advanced stage of spiritual development; it actually is basic. Everyone needs to learn how to pray, to take spiritual authority, and to speak the Word of God with faith. We cannot be intimidated by our enemies' threats as we stand against the advances of darkness.

You see, too many have settled for a false peace, which is the result of compromise and fear. God wants us to have true peace, which comes from faith in Christ and victory over evil.

Today many are weary with world events. Part of this weariness is because our hearts are divided. We need to get over our reluctance in facing our enemies. Stop worrying about making the devil mad and get mad yourself – be angry, but do not sin! There is a legitimate "time for war" (Ecclesiastes 3:8) and we are in it.

The sooner we switch into war mode, the faster we will tap into the moral resolve needed to defeat personal oppression and secure victory. As we are changed, so we can begin to influence the world around us. So rebuke passivity and take authority over self-pity. God will give grace to prevail.

Consider also Isaiah's revelation about the Lord. The prophet wrote:

"The Lord will go forth like a warrior, He will arouse His zeal like a man of war. He will utter a shout, yes, He will raise a war cry. He will prevail against His enemies" (Isaiah 42:13).

The Lord is a warrior and He desires you to become a warrior as well. Shake off the weariness and get back into the Word of God. If you were knocked down, get up. It's time to reactivate your war mode.

Master, I submit to Your anointing for warfare. I renounce being a coward or embracing a false peace based on compromise. I submit to the fighter in You, who can sanctify the fighter in me. In Jesus' name, Amen.

It has been fifty years since the warning was prophesied to the church in that city. It was one of the larger cities of the greater Pacific Northwest region, and the prophet declaring the word was known by the church of that city, and was respected. “Beware gypsy presbyteries!” he declared.

I’ve been thinking about that word, and I’m hearing God breathing on it for my region. In fact, I believe God is re-breathing that word to the entire Pacific Northwest. He’s probably saying it to more than just our region, but I have confidence that this is the season for the Northwest to hear it. Fifty years ago, the church didn’t hear, or they didn’t understand, and there was a price that was paid for their failure, but that’s not the story I’m telling here.

But before I tell the story, I need to be clear about the position that I tell it from. I am not opposed to travelling ministries; I am not opposed to prophetic ministries. In fact, I have good friends in both camps, and I serve ministries that are in both camps. What I am about to say is not a declaration that such ministries are in error. That would be an untrue accusation. In fact, the very prophecy we’re discussing here was delivered by a travelling prophetic minister.

·Gypsy: in the less-politically-correct times of a half century ago, a gypsy was “a member of a people with dark skin and hair who speak Romany and who traditionally live by seasonal work and fortunetelling.” They traveled from place to place, with no roots in the places they visited, and no accountability in those places.

·Presbyteries: Bill Hamon defines a prophetic presbytery: when two or more prophets and/or prophetic ministers lay hands on and prophesy over an individual, a body, or a region, to minister a prophetic word, to identify gifts and placement in the Body or in leadership, to impart gifts and callings, or for ordaining to an office of ministry.

It’s probably worth mentioning that this a metaphor: I am not suggesting that there are either individual prophets or groups of prophets wandering from town to town performing fortune telling under the guise of prophetic ministry just to make a living. I’m sure that does occasionally happen, but again: that’s not the primary warning here.

These days, we have a large number of traveling prophets, visiting town after town, prophesying. I would expect that, like the gypsies of old, they were tempted to declare what people wanted to hear in order to generate better offerings, but again, that’s not the primary warning here.

The warning is to guard against depending on prophetic words from travelling prophetic ministries who have no root, no stake in this region. There is good that can come from visiting prophetic ministries, even from ministries that we don’t well know; the warning is against depending on those.

And this is a warning to the church; I am confident that this is a warning to the church in my region; I suggest you ask the Holy Spirit if it’s a warning to the church in your region as well. Fundamentally, this is a warning that the primary prophetic voice in our region must not be from travelling ministries. Our primary prophetic voice needs to come from the prophetic people of our own region.

Thirty years ago, there were a relatively large number of travelling evangelists. They’d come into town, hold a week or two worth of meetings, collect that many offerings, and move on to the next town. A few people came to Christ, more folks renewed forgotten vows, and some of the saints were encouraged. Sometimes.

But it was not an uncommon occurrence that the evangelist would say some things that confused some of the sheep. In my community, the departure of an evangelist would leave uncertain saints worrying about “Can a Christian really have a demon?” or “Can I really lose my salvation?” “Am I really in danger of hell after all these years?”

Pastors would talk with respect about some of the evangelists; others, they said, would “Blow in, blow up, and blow out!” and the pastors would be left to clean up the messes, soothe their worried sheep and answer their difficult and sometimes unnecessary questions.

In our generation, we have more prophets than evangelists blowing into town, declaring a prophetic sermon, prophesying with varying degrees of accuracy over several people in the audience, collecting the requisite number of offerings, and blowing on to the next town. Again, the pastors are left to clean up the messes, soothe their worried sheep and answer their difficult and sometimes unnecessary questions. These days, the questions include, “The prophet said this would happen; why isn’t it happening?” and “Why won’t the pastor recognize me in the role the prophet said I am called to?”

In other words, there are a number of pastoral problems with the church depending on travelling prophetic ministers. In order to deal with the pastoral questions, there is a temptation to reject the travelling prophetic ministry; I’m not sure that’s the right solution.

But there are also significant apostolic problems when the church depends heavily on travelling prophetic ministers, particularly when she depends on un-connected gypsy presbyteries. Some examples:

·If we don’t stand up and take responsibility for hearing what God has to say for our region, then why should we expect people who have no investment in the region to labor to hear God’s heart for our region?

·Prophetic words often don’t come to pass by themselves; we need to labor with them: fighting for the promises, fighting with the promises. Prophets who blow into town, declare a word (even a good word) and then are gone to the next town cannot labor to birth the word that’s been declared.

·If we depend on guest speakers for our prophetic declarations, then what happens when we need to hear from God and there is no guest speaker in town this weekend?

·When a church, a region, depends on others to bring the word of the Lord for them, then they have no motivation, no reason to raise up their own prophetic community. The church is justly famous for teaching on the gift of encouragement, the gift of giving and others; recently, the church has begun teaching on the gift of prophecy and how to hear God’s voice, but how often has either a congregation or the church of a region taught the people of their own region about how to walk in the difficult office of a prophet?

·If there are no prophets raised up and recognized in the region, then how will the church of the region recognize and stand up to the agenda of darkness and declare, “You shall not pass!” As a result, the region stands with weakened defenses.

If we are to be a healthy people, we need to develop a measure of strength in all of the gifts in our region. We will do well to welcome travelling prophetic ministries, but we need to develop lasting relationships with them; fortunately, in this generation, it’s very possible to build lasting, distant relationships.

I believe the Spirit of God is calling for maturity in the prophetic (in all of the gifts, really). It’s time to raise up mature prophetic communities in our region, communities that have the maturity to declare the word of God to our region, both to the church and to the “secular” community, communities that are self-replicating, raising up their replacements, communities that can discern and judge the declarations of the gypsy presbyteries.

The following word was prophesied by Kim Clement on October 2, 2010 from The Den:

"Do Not Tremble at the Sound of Bad News"

God's Spirit says to you, "Are you expecting something from Me? Are you waiting and saying, 'God, any moment now something could happen?' Are you expecting something from Me?" For the Spirit of the Lord says, "If you are expecting, then I shall grant it to you in My time."

Those who fear the Lord, do not tremble at the sound of bad news. Do not tremble at the sound of bad news, for the Spirit of the Lord says, "I will release My voice, and I have, to overcome and resist the very enemy that has tried to take the joy away from My people.

"Smile," says the Lord, "for I am thundering throughout the earth. I am rushing to and fro throughout the earth," says the Lord, "hearkening unto the sound of My people and waiting to hear the sound of faith," says the Lord."I'm running throughout the earth," says the Lord.

God says, "I am working on your behalf. I am exercising the same power that I did for the children of Israel. When their enemies rose up against them, I arose," said the Lord.

"I Shall Cause My Earth to Bring Forth a Judgment"

"Let the earth shake," for God says, "the damage that your enemy has desired to do to you shall turn back and it shall be done to them. Would they come and stand on the Holy Ground that My people have established? No, I shall do the shaking," says the Lord.

"And when they point their finger and stick it into the nose of those who have stood and prayed, I shall break fingers and I shall cause My earth to bring forth a judgment. And even though it shall shake, the soil of the land shall shake in America, they shall say it did no harm or damage."

"Oh, What Changes are About to Take Place"

Lord, we stand upright before You in fear – not of man, but fear of God. I'm praying now that what You spoke would suddenly be saturated by Your people. If God be for us, who can be against us? "But Kim, our country is going down the drain."

No, it shall not be this, it shall not be the veil of Islam (Kim covers his face with his mantle), but the unveiling of Christ. Father, cast Your mantle upon us right now, on every home, every person that is watching me all over the world (Kim grips his mantle in both hands). Strike, Lord and let Your Name be exalted in this nation.

How the enemy has targeted Europe now, as we prophesied, and then America again. You've kept us, Lord. Oh, what changes are about to take place. The winds of change. The Spirit of Elijah, of Christ, is about to break through and bring families together – sons back to fathers, and those who are fatherless shall find the fathers. They shall find the father that they did not have. Father, reveal Yourself in this day and age, raise up fathers and Lord, touch every home and life right now.

You have made a promise so great that we stand fearing and trembling only at You, knowing that You will keep us. You said do something unusual in order to bring about something unusual.

THE TIDAL WAVE IS COMINGA tidal wave of God’s kingdom is about to crash on the shore of planet Earth as God is about to release a manifestation of Himself. A fresh, never seen before manifestation of God is going to break all barriers of men’s religious teachings and structure.God is about to do outside the system of men’s structure and doctrine what these could never contain. This wave is going to destroy many works of the flesh that have masqueraded as God’s work. This Kingdom release is a healing and destroying wave that is intended to heal the broken hearted and set the captives free, while at the same time passing judgment on dead works; showing they are not of God.THIS RELEASE COMES FROM THE COMMUNION (COMMON UNION) OF THE CORPORATE BRIDE AND HER GROOMThe release of this wave is a result of those who have learned to walk in UNION with the heart and purposes of God. Not just obeying Him, but coming into agreement with God and His judgments and heart. COMPLETE Unity with God is our destination in the kingdom. In this new day of the kingdom advancement we will see more and more the union of God with His sons as He purges the earth of its rebellion and pride. As a groom consummates his love for his bride, so the Lord is consummating a oneness with His sons, who have begun to express the very likeness and essence of God’s nature and authority on the earth.THIS “COMMON UNION” RELEASES GLORYCommunion, community, common unity: these terms describe what those who are being led by the Spirit have in common; unity in the Spirit. The Bride of Christ/the New Jerusalem is in complete agreement and unity concerning the passion and purpose of God’s heart toward creation. This communion (common union) is not based upon a church affiliation or leader, or even location. It is based upon:“…the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”The Glory of God is being released in those who have the common unity of being led by the Holy Spirit. When those who walk with God in union enter fellowship, worship, and mutually encourage on another, you will see an even Greater Glory. This is an outpouring THROUGH those who have“Gathered outside the camp unto Him”. Each one has first individually learned to walk in union with God, and then in communion with their brother.This unity is NOT found in a church congregations gathered in unity around a “common” doctrine, church structure, or a gifted leader. This is NOT what God is doing in this hour, and it does not have fullness of release. Where there is mixture there is hindrance to the will of God.THE WAVE IS THE RESULT OF GOD COMNG TO HIS TEMPLE TO DWELL…and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.He is fitting together a temple made of living stones that is at this present time scattered and coming out of wilderness trials and purification. But they are coming together in this time of earth’s upheaval and turbulence as a wave of refreshing to the earth. God is dwelling in His glory in these, and their common union is that they are partakers of His Spirit and nature. They have learned to be at rest with God IN them and they IN Him. They have learned submission and accountability to God, and have come to maturity that is seen in obedience out of love.COMMUNION IN COVENANTThere is coming a power and glory pouring forth from those walking in the “common unity” of the Spirit as a result of the One Covenant of The Blood of Jesus. Truly this is the Wedding Covenant of Union with Christ. If you are led by the Spirit, you are His son, and are already in a COMPLETED covenant of unity with everyone else on heaven and earth who is one with God. Mindsets are about to change drastically.In the One Covenant of “Common union” with God and each other, power will be released so mightily that many people will move beyond their old alliances and allegiances to their own church “communities”, leaders, and organizations. The communion of the saints will be seen in the broader sense in its reality; as what God has deemed in “union” with Him is blessed, and that which is not in union with Him will not endure. You will know those in union with Him by His Heart, His presence, and His power expressed in those He chooses to glorify; for we are the Glory He now chooses to clothe Himself in. He is the Glory we are clothed in.In HimKriston Couchey

I spent a day with at the beach with my kids a few years ago when the moon was full and the forecast was for high surf. We took our wetsuits and boards expecting to have a blast in the big waves. On the three hour drive to the beach we were filled with great expectations of catching some great curls. What actually happened when we arrived had the potential of being the greatest tragedy of my life.

As I approached the beach I noticed an enormous mound of sand running the length of the beach that wasn't there on previous trips. The pounding surf had completely rearranged the landscape. On top of the mound of sand lay a dead seal. The friendly little cove I'd always known had suddenly changed.

My kids were young and had never seen 20 foot waves before. They opted to stay on the beach where it was safe. I'd never seen waves this big either, but my sense of adventure got the best of me, so I pulled the wetsuit on and paddled into the surf. I spent the next hour in a slightly terrified state of mind trying to read the waves as they continually grew in size. It was all I could do to hang onto my board and not get beat to death by the enormous waves.

I was able to catch a few of the smaller ones and ride them for a while. But the water was freezing cold. Even with a good wetsuit, I was beginning to shiver. When a large wave came I paddled in the direction it was going, but the volume of water was so great that when the curl caught up with me, it drove me forcefully to the bottom. The hydraulic action of the surf held me under and no amount of swimming would bring me up. I had to wait like a pair of pants in a washing machine for the wave to pass so I could come up for air. In one of the waves, I actually thought for a few moments that I might be killed if I kept doing it. That was when I waved the white flag of surrender and swam ashore. I'd had enough. I sat with my kids on the beach and pondered the awesome power of the sea. I would never see it the same way again.

I shared this story because I think it has some application to what God is doing in His church. There is a wave of change headed our way. Many of us have seen it afar off. Some have begun to feel the changes already. The land under our feet is moving as the wave approaches. There's a great deal of excitement among those who long for the much needed change that's coming. But I fear we may be underestimating the enormous scope of change we'll experience. I think the wave will have wide-sweeping consequences few have considered. In the coming days I believe God will ask us to do things we will find uncomfortable right now.

When Jesus came, many rejoiced when they saw the works He did. He brought a wave of change to religious life in the middle-east. His following grew rapidly for a time. Then He did something unexpected. He began challenging his disciples with hard sayings. Many withdrew and followed him no more. To the few that remained, He revealed the mysteries of the kingdom.

I believe a similar thing is hidden in the approaching wave. In listening to the discussion about the coming move of God, I hear people talk excitedly about a greater presence of God, an increase of holiness and integrity among leaders, restructuring and dismantling organizational relics, a Spirit led instead of man led body of believers, prophetic worship, healing evangelism and a lot of others things most of us have been praying for. These are the things most of us are expecting. Perhaps we'll see them come to pass. But I think we're going to see things we don't expect and don't necessarily want.

We call the move of God a wave because it's a moving phenomenon; it starts out small and grows. The substance of the wave is the water of the Spirit. What approaches from afar off is a living, moving, spiritual phenomenon like nothing we've experienced. Being made of the Spirit, it has an unpredictable nature. We might see the effects, but no one knows where or how the wave will move next. We never fully know what will be in the next wave that comes.

The Spirit has unlimited authority and power to bring diverse effects wherever He goes. Like the massive wave I foolishly tried to ride, the wave of the Spirit will not be tamed or controlled by man. The church has at times been controlled and misled by man. Some of the changes have to do with making things right in that regard. Much of what we call the church will be devastated as the wave hits. The landscape we've always known will be forever changed. Here and there you may see a corpse on the hillside as a grim reminder of man's foolishness. It will be unfamiliar for most of us. And for a while it will be uncomfortable. This is part of what's coming.

There is already great division and disagreement in the body over doctrine. As God brings greater changes in what He is doing, the war of words will intensify. We can expect greater disagreement in the coming days. Those who are now our friends and allies may soon be our accusers. Change is a messy business. Following hard after God in the coming days will make all of us consider the cost. Many will leave the assembly of God's people. Heresy hunting, name-calling, and accusations of false prophet and teacher will be at an all time high. If accusation were a publicly traded stock, I'd be buying.

In past moves of the Spirit, long forgotten things have been given back to the church. That doesn't happen without bitter debate. It's been 100 years since the Asuza street revival, which saw the gifts of the Spirit returned to the church and there's still heated argument over them today. I wonder what gifts, experiences or revelations God is going to restore to us that were lost over the centuries. In recent dreams I've seen glimpses of what could be coming.﻿ It involves transportation in the spirit dimension; something both old and new testament saints once experienced. A few brave souls are still experiencing it, but I believe the Lord would have more of us traveling the spirit highway. I can imagine the accusations that will come.

In other dreams (if you can rightly call them dreams) I've had spiritual experiences that I can't describe in human words. They're so foreign to me that my natural mind can't understand what happened. I some I knew I was in the presence of God and there was something spiritual going on. But to put it into words is impossible, because in the natural world, there's nothing to compare it with. Kris Valloton had a dream in which God revealed something that seems to be a key - at least it was for me. He said that what's coming is so radically different and unlike what we've known in the past, it will require a new operating system for us to get it. That my friends, is the kind of change that's coming.

Another part of what God is doing is preparing an army. There's a fierce battle coming. It's going to be a suicide mission for some of us. It could be the last days rise of demonic oppression and deception in a futile last ditch effort by Satan to pull the wool over our eyes. It might be a battle against the spread of Islamic tyranny. I'm not certain what the war will be over. But I know it's coming and I know God is preparing an army that will be victorious.

The wave is coming and with it many changes will be upon us. A lot of those changes will be unexpected. Some will be nothing short of an adventure. Some will bring a deep sense of loss or disconnection from people we've known. It's going to be uncomfortable for a lot of us. But the kingdom of God is advancing and the people of God must move with the Spirit wherever He leads. It's my hope that your trust will be in Jesus, the one who is always faithful.

Every year on the Jewish new year, Bob Jones has had an encounter with the Lord in which he receives a revelation for the coming year. He has called this "The Shepherd's Rod". The following message is from the revelations that he received from the Lord on September 17th 2010 for this coming year.

Note: Portions of this word are specific to Morningstar Ministries. Much of the details and all of the principles are applicable in a much wider application.

If you have difficulty seeing the video, click on the title ("Bob Jones Shepherds Rod Prophecy for 2011").